Portrait of Cosimo II de’ Medici
Date
late 18th century
Sitter
Grand Duke of Tuscany Cosimo II de' Medici (1590 - 1621, Italian) , Patron of science
Creator
Unknown, Engraver
Object type
Archive reference number
Material
Technique
Dimensions
height (print): 155mm
width (print): 122mm
width (print): 122mm
Description
Head and shoulders portrait of Cosimo de’ Medici, shown with short natural hair and dressed in a ruff collar and robe bearing a cross. Turned to the right as viewed, his face directly regarding the viewer. With natural, shoulder-length hair. Presented in an oval frame.
Plate from a grangerized copy of A history of the Royal Society, with memoirs of the Presidents…by Charles Richard Weld (London, John W. Parker, 1848). In this edition, the original two volumes were extended to eight volumes with the addition of extra-illustrations and documents, by Alexander Meyrick Broadley.
The print appears at p.218 in volume 2 of the adapted set of Weld’s History. The text describes the visit of Cosimo III to the Royal Society on 25 April 1669. Although this print is inscribed as being a portrait of the third Duke of Tuscany, the work is clearly based upon a standard image of the previous Grand Duke, including fashionable dress of that earlier period.
Inscribed within the oval: ‘COSMOS III. DE MEDICES, MAGNUS – DUX ETRURIAE, DUX SIENA.’
Cosimo II de’ Medici (1590-1621), Grand Duke of Tuscany, patron of science, including of Galileo Galilei, who was his tutor.
Plate from a grangerized copy of A history of the Royal Society, with memoirs of the Presidents…by Charles Richard Weld (London, John W. Parker, 1848). In this edition, the original two volumes were extended to eight volumes with the addition of extra-illustrations and documents, by Alexander Meyrick Broadley.
The print appears at p.218 in volume 2 of the adapted set of Weld’s History. The text describes the visit of Cosimo III to the Royal Society on 25 April 1669. Although this print is inscribed as being a portrait of the third Duke of Tuscany, the work is clearly based upon a standard image of the previous Grand Duke, including fashionable dress of that earlier period.
Inscribed within the oval: ‘COSMOS III. DE MEDICES, MAGNUS – DUX ETRURIAE, DUX SIENA.’
Cosimo II de’ Medici (1590-1621), Grand Duke of Tuscany, patron of science, including of Galileo Galilei, who was his tutor.
Object history
Print from Charles Richard Weld's 2 volume A history of the Royal Society... (London, John W. Parker, 1848) grangerized by the writer and collector Alexander Meyrick Broadley (1847–1916) into 8 volumes, adding illustrative material and manuscript items to Weld's text. The books were initially owned by Ludwig Mond FRS (1839–1909), and according to an inscription by his son Robert Ludwig Mond FRS (1867–1938) they were intended for presentation to the Society. This eventually happened in late 1959, the donor being the politician Harry Nathan (1889–1963), Lord Nathan of Churt.
Related fellows
Charles Richard Weld (1813 - 1869, British) , Author
Associated place